Lions have injuries at kicker, punter

Posted by Michael David Smith on November 11, 2011, 12:47 PM EDT

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The Detroit Lions have seen a domino effect of injuries on special teams this week.

Kicker Jason Hanson suffered an injury to his left knee during the bye week, and although Hanson’s injury is not expected to keep him out of Sunday’s game against the Bears, it was serious enough that the Lions asked punter Ryan Donahue to practice his place kicking this week, just in case.

Unfortunately, Donahue strained a quadricep while kicking a field goal in practice, and now he’s expected to miss Sunday’s game.

If the injuries at kicker and punter give the Lions problems, Bears return man Devin Hester would be just the man to take advantage. Unfortunately for the Bears, Hester has been hobbled by an ankle injury this week. His status for Sunday is not yet known.